Chapter 2 - Strange help needed The man turned his head slightly, but looked back and walked away, not bothered with Yahiko who recognised him. For now, nothing mattered, there was no more goal to aim at in his life. What he had been fighting for and striving to live for were futile once his eyes had laid on the diary, the diary which revealed the painful truth. All these years the vision of his sister had been but an illusion, she was never angry with Battousai in the first place. The fact slammed him down hard while in Rakuninmura, and left him in a sad state of depression and lost, a little worse than what Kenshin had gone through. He lost more than who he loved most, but the mere reason for living too. He had no idea what was ahead, nor did not less care. Enishi? The name had no more importance. Nothing had. Yahiko stared ahead at the figure disappearing into the darkness. He didn’t know what to feel, being threatened was the last, seeing his forlorn state. But he learnt not to underestimate things too much, as he was wary of Enishi’s capabilities, which were, indeed, intimidating. But in the confusion held a little feeling of pity. From what he seen and heard, the story about Enishi’s past was clear, Enishi should know himself by now from Tomoe’s diary. Had it been to harsh, the way the truth was revealed? If given a choice, death would be a better option. Yup, death would be, but it was too easy an option. If there was one thing in him still strong, it was the reminder that Tomoe loved her brother dearly, and would definitely not want him to take his life no matter what. So much for her smiles that kept him going in the past, it’s best to let things go now. He packed some food to bring back to the weird old man in Rakuninmura. There goes all his money. ‘No, don’t go after him.’ Yahiko warned himself. There wasn’t any point to anyway. For safety’s sake, he decided not to tell the rest of this sudden encounter. Walking home deep in thought, Yahiko passed by the place where Kenshin and Kaoru were asleep on the grass. Whatever he saw few moments ago were brushed away as he had an idea...followed by a mischievous smile. “Kenshin...” she drooled in her sleep as she occasionally did. ‘Yuck, what a sight!’ a disgusted Yahiko thought, but heck, he was also used to her snoring. Perched on a tree, he lowered a fish he just caught, flapping it’s fins hardly on Kaoru’s face. Kenshin gave him a surprised ‘she’ll kill you!’ face, before climbing up the tree to join him, thinking ‘hahaa...she’ll kill me too!’. The morning sun rose slowly in a corner of the blue horizon, dimly lighting the land with the shimmering dew on plants, creating crystallising brightness in the early morning. Fortunately, Kenshin was aware of Yahiko’s presence, or he would be kissing a fish now. The girl was awoken from her deep sleep, but wanted more of her dream, whatever it was, and swiped the nuisance aside, only breaking the loose string holding the fish, making it fall on her floorless face. “Nani? Is it raining, Kenshin” A gaping sea bass greeted her. “Ohayo!” Sano strolled into the dojo, obviously looking for breakfast, if not lunch too. “Food’s not ready yet!” Yahiko replied him from inside, knowing full well the motive of Sano’s visit. He was training with his boken and 4 bumps on the head. Kenshin, who had five bumps and a black eye smiled from his usual spot doing the laundry. “What brings you here so early?” He asked friendly. Sano’s expression suddenly turned serious, he had a motive for his visit. “I need help.” Kenshin stopped in mid-tracks and put his laundry down, walking towards Sano in concern. But Sano walked straight ahead towards the kitchen where Kaoru was. “Please follow me after breakfast.” He asked her politely, which was an extremely rare sight. She reached for his forehead to test if he was mentally insane, perhaps Megumi gave him the wrong prescription. Sano gave a sarcastic face and pulled her hand away, asking for some seriousness. “Come on, it’s urgent!” “If it’s about lending money to you again, you can forget it!” Kaoru huffed, she was still pissed from morning ‘fish’ . “No,” Sano said. “I need your clothes.” ::Slap:: “Your kimono,” he rephrased. “I need to borrow your kimono.” “What for? You can’t fit into it.” she teased, making it even harder for him to try to be nice and polite. “A friend. My friend needs it.” “Go on.” she said, turning back to her cooking. Either she was not that willing to let go of her precious silk outfit or she wanted to ease her anger with Sano begging her. Maybe both. He sighed. He knew it was not going to be an easy task when asking anything from Kaoru. “My friend’s sister is going to get married soon. But the guy is rich, and has irritating parents to please. Problem is, my friend is poor, and could hardly afford 3 decent meals a day, much less a wedding outfit. She is meeting his parents and needs something to impress. There. Can I take one now?” he said and turned around to enter her room, not even waiting for her answer. ‘That Megumi is right, he really does not know his limits!!’ thought Kaoru exasperatly. ‘But at least he thinks my tastes are good, I myself never knew my kimonos are that nice! Perhaps it’s because I’m in it, after all, he sees me in it...’ her mind wandered off till she realised Sano was no longer with her. “Hey! Did I say yes?” Kaoru stormed into the room. By then, Sano had taken the yellow one that she usually wore, about to make his exit. “Please? Thanks!” She caught him by the shirt before he could run. “Come on, onegai! You can’t be this...” “Wait.” she interrupted. Pulling him back into her room and opened a wooden chest hidden somewhere in a corner Sano hadn’t noticed. Out she pulled a beautiful light blue kimono with embedded golden jewels and embroided pink flowers, smooth and shining, with a darker blue waist band and a silver strap. Purely silk, the outfit was complimented with polished wooden clogs in dark beige with soft silk strings where the toes would slid under. Kaoru held the clothing in front of Sano, who was taken aback with the beauty of it, for Kaoru had never worn it before, even on special occasions. “My mom left me this, she used it for her own wedding, but I supposed that you need more than clothes to doll yourself up. Mind if I help?” she asked, smiling. He grinned. At times she’s not an ugly, old, noisy Jou-chan after all! Kenshin and Yahiko peeped from the door, and was relieved everything was all right. Sano was a good friend, and would do anything he could to help if one was in need. He turned back to finish up with the rest of the clothes, when heard Yahiko mumble under his breath. “So it was that, I thought he saw him too.” He picked up his boken and left. His father played around with the birds and sang to himself. Though reconciled, Enishi could not accept the fact the weird old man was his dad. Well, neither could he under that frame of mind, who left everything behind in Kyoto. There was not a need for either parties to have any burden of taking care of each other, both could survive well without any help. They did before when they made their decision to leave everything behind. But still, perhaps it was Tomoe who kept them together. Now that she was gone, both were as good as strangers. “I love ramen.” he chirped to the singing birds. “She loved ramen too!” “No, she preferred rice.” Enishi corrected, back to the wall, relaxing in the cool afternoon sun. Now there were no restrictions to smile and show his emotions, but there were reluctances as he was not used to it. His temper had died down greatly, and has started to learn to be more cheerful. ‘Not that cheerful,’ he thought, looking at the weird old man. ‘that’s an extreme’. From when he moved to Rakuninmura, he left all contact with the outside world. The thriving mafia business began to die down not under any strong and good leadership they once had. The No. 2 leader was spending life imprisonment with a fractured face, and made collecting information a little harder for Saitoh. But then, they were all in the past. He looked up at the sky now appearing a slight shade of grey. “She liked ramen too.” “Hajimemashite.” the young girl no older than she was herself bowed low before her, causing a slight blush in her face. Kaoru rushed to hold her, standing her up again. “No, no, it’s okay. Sano told me all about you.” Kaoru smiled and assured her no inconvenience was caused, if being drenched in the storm with a noisy Yahiko, a Kenshin with a mistakenly broken umbrella and a Sano hurrying them were not considered as one. Still, she wished to help the sweet girl, more with the urge to help than Sano asking her to. Sano asking her to was not even in the least persuasive. Sano’s friend brought the guys to a room, leaving the two girls alone. It seems no harm letting Kenshin and Yahiko know, thinking that perhaps they could be of some help. The girl looked up at Kaoru, afraid. “Miko, is it Miko? Don’t worry, I’ll do what I can to please his parents.” Kaoru gently brush the hair off Miko’s face, finding out that she was actually a beauty. Her clear brown eyes plainly showed her innocence of a young teenager, not much lady about to get married. She had a fair face with rosy cheeks, with slender figure and smooth fair skin. Although she was poor as Sano said, she knew how to take care of herself. Her soft voice went well with her sweet looks, and when she smiled, which she did after Kaoru’s reassurance, Kaoru had to admit the young lady was charming without any effort, way prettier than she herself was. She was about to miss the point of dressing her up. “How long have you knew him?” asked Kaoru, brushing her raven black hair that shone in the light. “4 months, we met by coincidence.” She stopped in surprise at such short a time, then quickly continued. “I’m sure he was attracted by your beauty, as many would be.” Miko blushed. “Does he treat you well?” she inquired again at the friendly girl, now bunning the long locks in a clip with cyrstal blue stones at the end, to match the dress. After which she would tie it with one of her ribbons, spreading it out across her bun till shoulder-length. “Very well indeed, he doesn’t mind my...my state.” she said in a more softer tone. “But I love him a lot.” Kaoru stood her up to help her in the ravishing kimono, more complicated than normal kimonos to put on. As she did, she felt herself envying the young girl for finding happiness and guaranteeing it’s long lifespan to be celebrated with a joyous occasion. She had that too, she had Kenshin. Demo...when will he...he... “There, you look even more lovely!” She applied the white powder in little amount to her face, not wanting to conceal the true beauty beneath shown simplistically. Then, a little of pink here...and there... “There!” came a voice behind the sliding door, which opened and drew the curtains to a sight holding everyone’s breath for minutes on end...before breaking out in heaps of laughter. “Kaoru, move away!” shouted Sano to the girl in a huge mess with powder over her face and arms. Apparently, she got more of it on herself than on Miko. She frowned and stepped aside, to show the real sight that they anticipated. Kaoru lifted her bowed head and sat back with everyone else, watching them gape in amazement. The carriage outside broke the silence and signalled the time to leave. “Well done,” Kenshin praised her and held a sleeve up to wipe the mess off her face. “She’s gorgeous, like you.” She ::blushed::, Yahiko and Sano ::eyed:: him suspiciously, Kenshin had ::sweatdrop::...^_^ The five of them with the bride-to-be headed to the mansion in two horse-drawn carriages.